Coupling



1933- H. M. ROBINSON 2,138,940

COUPLING Filed April 25, 1936 e A 4 23 U Q ,6

INVENTOR. HwZeHJIoZjrwm Patented Dec. 6, 1938 to; Reliable Machine Screw Sales Co., Inc..- a Newark, ,N. J., a. corporation of New Jersey appii'ean napi i 2;, 1936, Serial No; 75,947

3 Claims (Cl. 284-19) My invention isan improved .hose',coupllng particularly suitable for. use 'in, connecting the vacuum brake lines between a' tractor and. trailer.

Leading objects of myinv'ention are 'thepro} vision of coupling'scction s which can be securely locked together without. danger f 'disengagement by vibration, joltingorjthe like; to provide Q an uncoupled male coupling member with .automatic means; for preventing ingress of. air into the vacuum. line with.whicl such coupler memf 7 her is connected}, tdprovidejmeaiis'wlthin the. female. member. off'the 'cou'plerfand beyond ,the, plane of the'lock'irig nieansfor automaticallyies tabli shin g' communication" between the coupler. membersiwhen the,male'inember of the'coupler has beenlm ovedfto predetermined position in. the

female member oithe' coupler so that the members are'telescoped together for .an jei'ctende'd dis tanceaxial ly thereby providing room within the v femaleTco'up ler, member for sealing'..means for the malecouplerrriemlz er; and to fp'rovide means which maybehoused within the female coupler member'for sealing the joint between the coupler members at a plurality of points and to sealthe joint betweenthe male coupler member and 'a tube. axially slidable the'r'ein'to control shadow of air therethrough.

In accordance with my invention, one of the coupler members is preferably formed of a plurality of hollow stems which are coupled together by, means of a cup-like shell fixed to one of the stems and a head fixed to the other of the stems and threaded into the shell and held in place by a circumferential lip on such shell. A hollow tube is slidable axially through one of the stems and has, within the shell, a head forming a valve which is biased toward closed position by a spring. Peripheral apertures in the slidable tube adjacent to its head permit communication between the interiors of the shell and tube when the latter is in retracted position; which communication is, however, shut off when the valve is biased by the spring to closed position.

The sliding tube projects at all times forwardly beyond the forward end of the stem and is provided with a bead adapted to engage a gasket encircling the tube and press such gasket against the end of the stem so as to prevent leakage between the outer surface of the tube and the inner surface of the stem.

The stem is also provided with a circumferential groove adjacent to its head and adapted for the reception of detents carried by a female coupler member, the detents being preferably movable into and locked in engaging position in the groove by the rotation of a sleeve on the female coupler. in the coupled relation of the members the'stem and tube project a considerable distance into the female coupler member beyond the points of engagement of the detents, and a tight joint is made between the tube and the female coupler member and between the tube head and the end of the stem by the thrust of the forward end of the tube, and preferably also of the bead thereon, against resilient packing 'seated in. the female memberq, I

The detents preferably consist of fulcrumed rods which are normally biased outward away from the stem, but which may be locked in the groove of the stem by the'engagement with the rods of studs rotatable by'a. sleeve on the female coupler. I I

The characteristic features and advantagesof my improvements will further appear from the following description and the accompanying drawing in illustration of the preferred embodiment thereof. b

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a preferred embodiment of'my improved coupler; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionaLview of the coupling shown in Fig. 1 taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 4; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2 with the parts moved to unlocked relation; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View taken on the same line as Fig. 3 but with parts in looking position; and Fig. 5 is an end view of the coupling taken from the right hand end thereof.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing, my improved coupler comprises a pair of telescopic members A and B adapted for attachment respectively to the ends of sections of hose or pipe.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention, the member A consists of a shell having a cuplike section I, a stem 2 and a head 3 threaded into the mouth of the cup I and held therein by the spun over edge of the cup. The head 3 has a hollow stem or male member 4 projecting oppositely to the stem 2, and is preferably grooved on its inner surface for the reception of an elastic gasket 5. The head 3 and stem 4 contain a. cylindrical bore 6 forming a slideway for a hollow tube 1, which has an integral head 8 within the cup I. A valve 9 is fixed to the head 8 by an upset stud Ill integral with the head and passing through an aperture in the valve. The valve preferably is provided with a peripheral bead ll adapted to be seated on the yielding gasket 5. Ports [2 are formed in the tube adjacent to the head 8 to permit communication between the interiors of the tube I and of the cup I when the valve 9 is retracted from its seat. The valve 9 is normally biased toward the gasket 5, so that the ports l2 are within the slideway 6, by means of a spring l3 having one end encircling the boss M on the valve and its other end bearing against the surface of the recess l5 in the cup I.

The member Bpreferably consists of a -hollow cylindrical shell l6 having a flanged head' l1 containing recesses l8. Detents IS in the recesses l8 are fulcrumed on pivots 20, secured to the flange l1, and are movable on these pivots I toward and from the longitudinal axis of the shell l6 and in a plane normal to 'such-axis.*: The flange i1 contains tangential recesses 2| for plungers 22 which are normally biased outward by springs 23 against the free ends of the pivoted detents l9 so as to rock such detents away from the axis of the shell 16 and tube 4. 1

A sleeve 24 is rotatable on the flange l1 and securedin place thereon by inturned flanges 25 and 26. The inner peripheral wall of the sleeve 24 has studs o r buttons 21- riveted thereto which arelrnovable circumferentially in the recesses IS in engagement with the edges of the detents IS.

.The edge of each detent l9 contains a seat 28 ,having a curved surface whose curvature is subtended lby a chord forming an acute angle.

,withaflradius of the sleeve 24 when the detents 19 are positioned by the rotation of the buttons] 21,120 permit the seating of the latter. in the seats 28, -fl his prevents the accidental displacement of fthelbuttons from the seats when the sleeve 24 is .turned 'to locking position.

H etents l9 areeadapted for, engagement in the annular groove 29 of the stem 4, when the stemdstelescoped to a predetermined position in theshell l8.

The tube l has a bead 30 thereon forming a bearing surface complementary to the bearing surface '31 on the end of the stem 4. A compressiblegasket 32-encircles the tube! between the bearing surfaces 30 and 3| and is compressed by such surfaces when they are brought into close juxtaposition. The bead 30 is also adapted for engagement with a gasket 33, seated in an annular recess 34in the inner surface of the shell l6, and the end of the tube 1 is adapted for engagement with an L-shaped gasket 35 seated in the end 36. of'the shel1 I6. 7

It willbe understood that, in use, the stem 2 will be inserted in a flexible hose line of a vacuum brake system of a tractor, and the member [6 will have its threaded end screwed onto the end of a brake tube carried by a trailer.

When the element A is separated from the element 13, the

spring l3 will bias the valve 9 and tube I outwardly against suction of the vacuum in the brake system, and ingress of air into the tractor brake system will thereby be prevented.

When the brake systems of the tractor and trailer are to be connected, the stem 4 and tube 1 are pressed into the shell l6 until the detents l9 are in registration with the groove 29, whereupon the sleeve 24 isjrotated in a clockwise direction until the studs '2l' are engaged-"in the seats 28. The inward movement of the stem 4 and the engagement of the front end and bead 30 of the tube with the packing in the shell 16 causes the axial movement of the tube 1 toward the left against the-biasing action of the spring [3, with consequent unseating of the valve 9 and the displacement of the ports I2 beyond the slideway 6 and sealingof the joints between the tube 1 and stem 4 and'between the tube 1 and cylinder I6.

Preferably the area of the opening through the tube 4 is substantially equal to the combined areas of the ports l2.

Having described my invention I claim-'- 1. A coupling member adapted for telescopic co-action witha complementary member and comprising a. hollow shell, fulcrumed detents mounted in said. shell and movable toward and from theaxis thereof, means normally biasing said detents away from theaxis of said shelland means comprising a rotatable sleeve on said shell shell by the rotation of said sleeve;

for moving said detents toward the axis of said members, means for ,holdingsaid members in pro-determined telescopic relati'onf 'a tube "slid-f able axiallyin' one o'f'saidmembers and havin an annular (rib adjacent toj'one"'end thereof; mean's'jincluding a valve on the end "of "said tube opposite'tosaid rib for biasing 'said'tube in one direction, and'n'ieans in the other of said memf bers for resisting the biasing action of said bias-' ing means onjsaidtube and'in'cluding a yielding seat for the "first end of said tube and a yielding seat forsaid rib. g

3. A coupling comprising a cup-like-housing. a stem having a head engaged in said housing, a tube axially slidable through'said stem and head into saidhousing, said stem having a locking groove therein, a shell having detents adapted for engagement in said groove when the shell and stem are in operatively telescoped relation, said tube projecting beyond said detents into engagement with a seat in said shell, and a gasketseal ing the joint between said tubea'nd stem within said shell.

HERBERT M. ROBINSON. 

